Last week Iris this week Peony Blooms!

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What a difference a nice warm week can make. Last Sunday we had an amazing Iris bloom after 3 years of waiting. This morning I headed out to see if aything was happening yet with the peonies my mother in-law gave me a couple years ago. I was nervous that I'd get lots of buds that were duds because out of 8 plants I ended up with only 1 or two blooms on 3 plants. So far every plant this year has swollen buds with a little color coming through. The plant I'm highlighting this morning is going to be a stunner if it keeps blooming all the way. 
For perrenial plants that can last 100+ years I'm hoping they last at the least 40+ years like their parent plants at my in-laws. I can recall each of my grandmothers having at least one Peony plant. However, my great grandmother did the most with her Peonies. They lined both sides of the walk way and I couldn't get enough of the rose scent and counting all the ants. *NOTE* Ants love Peonies! I find that the peonies seem to draw the ants away from my veggie garden where they herd the aphids like little shepards. Ants I like... More like tolerate if they stay in their lane and not in the house or vegetable garden. Aphids I hate they suck the life out of everything... So watch for them on your veggies. I will try to remember to do research on the types of Peony I have growing. With their parent plants being so old the names of the varieties have been long lost or forgotten. As I recover from yesterdays gardening adventure I will evtually get around to gathering more technical information for you all on growing Peonies in your own garden. If mine live half as long as the predecessors I plan on gifting each of my kids with them as they make great heirloom gifts for children starting their own lives. Peonies help me not forget my roots.

Happy Planting!

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